


Hey Old Friend (Haven't Seen You in a While)

by transboykobrakid (Lucipoo)



Series: Just Gals Being Pals [3]
Category: My Chemical Romance, The Used
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Genderqueer Bert McCracken, Genderqueer Character, Other, Trans Character, Trans Gerard Way, Trans Quinn Allman, theyre lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-12 19:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11743608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucipoo/pseuds/transboykobrakid
Summary: But what really sucked, was their birthday was coming up, and while they loved Gee and all her friends, it also was a reminder of the fact that their old best friend now lived on the other side of the country.Before he had moved, he always would do something incredible on Bert's birthday, like buying them a skateboard or their favorite movie or a bag of pretzels, it was like he knew that Bert always got depressed around their birthday, so he had to make it extra special, so they wouldn't be sad. Bert's parents never understood why all his gifts meant so much, but that's because they didn't get their friendship. They didn't get Bert, didn't understand how wonderful it was to get something as small as a bag of pretzels, just because the giver knew it'd make them smile.





	Hey Old Friend (Haven't Seen You in a While)

**Author's Note:**

> yes!! more lesbians!!! this time with a Quinn too!! 
> 
> i know it took me forever to update this universe ive just been the depression so its been very slow going, but i hope yall like this!!!!!

Everyone always assumed that Bert had never had any friends, ever. Even Gee and her friends, assumed that they never had friends before this time. The thing was, they did have friends. Well, more specifically, they had had _a_ friend, who's family then decided they should move across the country, like some fucking bullshit.

That was right before Bert had entered high school, so it was no surprise that everyone now assumed that they have never had friends in their whole life, but really they just hadn't had friends in high school- until they had met Gee, of course.

But what really sucked, was their birthday was coming up, and while they loved Gee and all her friends, it also was a reminder of the fact that their old best friend now lived on the other side of the country.

Before he had moved, he always would do something incredible on Bert's birthday, like buying them a skateboard or their favorite movie or a bag of pretzels, it was like he knew that Bert always got depressed around their birthday, so he had to make it extra special, so they wouldn't be sad. Bert's parents never understood why all his gifts meant so much, but that's because they didn't get their friendship. They didn't get Bert, didn't understand how wonderful it was to get something as small as a bag of pretzels, just because the giver knew it'd make them smile.

But ever since he had moved, birthdays had gone back to being shitty. Bert didn't even tell Gee that their birthday was coming up, they didn't want her to make some big deal out of it. It's like good birthdays were something they wanted to keep locked up in those past years so they would never tarnish the memories of their old friend.

When the day of their birthday finally did arrive, Bert definitely wasn't expecting their mom to say that they had a visitor waiting downstairs, and that they had to come down _immediately_. Bert assumed it was just Gee, maybe some of her friends or something. Who else would it be? Even if they never actually had told her when their birthday was, they also knew she had a way of finding things out.

Mostly she just asked their mom questions while Bert was upstairs getting changed, or that's what Mikey had said she does.

Bert was in the middle of getting dressed when their mom yelled for them, so it took them a few more minutes of getting ready before they actually went downstairs. The cold weather made dressing much easier, because they didn't have to worry about overheating.

Bert finally finished getting ready, taking their sweet time to leave their room. They mostly were just too tired and depressed to wanna hang out with anyone, even if they did love Gee a lot. Birthdays were just so _draining_ , so they would take as long as they needed to get ready, thank you very much.

When Bert went downstairs to see who this visitor was, they definitely were _not_ expecting to see their old friend, Quinn, sitting on their couch, drinking a cup of coffee and staring at the TV.

“Quinn!?” Bert exclaimed, shocked and confused at seeing him after so long.

Quinn looked away from the TV and grinned at Bert, saying, “Hey! Long time no see!”

Well, that's what he tried to say, but he was interrupted by Bert flinging themselves onto him and holding him in a tight hug. He just laughed as he fell back against the couch, not surprised at Bert's reaction to seeing him again.

“You fuck! Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?” Bert said, their voice muffled by being pressed so close against Quinn.

“I wanted to give you a birthday surprise!” Quinn replied with a laugh.

Bert sat up slightly, although they still were very close to Quinn, and said, “You still could've given me a warning! Damn, I could've died, Quinn!”

Quinn just laughed more, seemingly happy and just as excited to see Bert. He looked good, Bert thought, a lot taller than they had last seen him. He also had cut his hair short, the shoulder length hair he had had when they had last seen him now long gone. He also looked like he was in better shape, but considering Bert hadn't seem him since he was 13 that wasn't surprising.

“Who's Quinn?” Bert’s mom suddenly asked, her question confusing Bert at first because shouldn’t that be obvious? Quinn was Bert's best friend, friends since kindergarten, the first person to introduce Bert to queer topics in a backwater, religious town.

He was Bert's first kiss, if only as a dare, and the one who made every birthday wonderful, who knew exactly how to make Bert smile, even if it was the smallest of ways. He taught Bert all about gender theory and all the different identities, told them how queer didn't have to only be an insult thrown at them by people who didn't like “boyish girls.”

Quinn _also_ happened to be a trans guy who was closeted around Bert's mother, so maybe that's where the confusion around the name came from.

“Oh, uhm,” Bert started, sitting up more to look at their mom directly, “That's a nickname I have for hi- her. It's an inside joke.”

“Yeah, ‘Quinn’ is a character from a book I like,” Quinn added, “I'm a lot like the character so it kinda just became a nickname for me.”

Bert's mom smiled at the two, saying, “Ah, that's nice! How about you two girls go upstairs and I'll make you some lunch.”

“Yeah, okay, thank you mom,” Bert said, before getting up off the couch and dragging Quinn up to their room. They pulled Quinn down onto their bed, grinning at him as he laughed.

“‘I called her Quinn ‘cause it's an inside joke,’ real smooth, dude, really smooth,” Quinn laughed as he positioned himself better on Bert's bed.

“What? It was a good save and you know it!” Bert grinned, then added, “Not like you were better though, mr. ‘oh Quinn is a book character I’m a lot like.’”

Quinn laughed more and slapped Bert’s arm, “Okay, fine, we’re both idiots, happy?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

Quinn looked up at Bert and smiled, and fuck, they missed him so much. It had been over four years since they had seen him and god, that is too much fucking time. They would've tried to visit him, but he lived so far away and plane tickets were too expensive, plus Bert's parents wouldn’t drive them. It sucked, but they learned to just deal with it after a while. They still texted all the time, but that still wasn't satisfactory most of the times.

But here he was again, laying down on Bert's bed like he owned the place, and suddenly it felt like no time had passed. Quinn was back! He was actually back! He might've gotten a bit taller, and he might have shorter hair now, but he was still the same guy that Bert had gotten so close to all those years ago.

Fuck, Bert felt like they were gonna cry.

But they didn’t want to cry, so they just slapped Quinn’s stomach hard and asked, “So, how was life without me? Was every waking moment agony?”

Quinn laughed and slapped Bert's leg, replying with, “Oh, most definitely, I mostly missed how fucking awful you were and how gross you smelled. Really a charming one you are, pal.”

“Awh, that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me!”

“Uh huh, that's me, the nicest guy in the world.”

Bert grinned and laid with his head in Quinn's lap, saying, “But seriously, how are you? How's life in the South?”

“Well first of all, people keep thinking I'm a lesbian,” Quinn started, “Which I'm sure you would love, but I gotta admit it’s pretty annoying for me. Like, how do I say I'm not a butch lesbian but in fact a trans guy without getting my ass beat?”

“I'm pretty sure you're gonna get your ass beat either way, dude,” Bert said, “Take this from your local lesbian.”

Quinn laughed bitterly, “Okay, good point. It just sucks, y’know? Like, I'd rather have insults thrown at me for being trans rather than being mistaken as a lesbian, cause then they'd at least somewhat acknowledge that I'm not a girl. Maybe. I dunno, but you get what I mean, right?”

Bert patted Quinn's arm, “I know what you mean, but honestly I think they'd still think you are a lesbian even if you came out as trans. People suck like that.”

“Yeah, you're probably right,” Quinn sighed, then added, “What about you? What have you been doing since I’ve been gone?”

“I think the better question is _who_ have I been doing,” Bert grinned, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, “And the answer is an awesome girl named Gee Way.”

“Shit, you actually got a girlfriend? How the fuck did you do that?”

Bert shrugged, “I got drunk once at a party and we made out a little.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Quinn laughed.

“It's the most ‘me’ way to get a girl ever,” Bert grinned.

“Okay, but was that your only interaction or did you talk more?”

“Well, apparently she had noticed me and thought I was cute beforehand? And also i “interested her” or something, like she was curious about me. Than when we finally interacted we just... clicked, I guess. She's seriously wonderful.”

“I can tell you really like her,” Quinn smiled, “I'm glad you found someone who makes you happy.”

“Me too, you'll definitely have to meet her while you're here,” Bert grinned, excited at the thought of Quinn meeting Gee. Their two favorite people being in the same room together? How fucking cool would that be?

“Oh, this isn't just a visit, we're moving back here,” Quinn said, seemingly casual on the outside but Bert knew him well enough to know he was fighting hard to not grin on the inside.

Bert, on the other hand, wasn't trying to hide his excitement at all. The moment Quinn said that, they immediately tackled him off the bed, full of so much happiness that they just had to throw their best friend off of the bed in a show of affection. Sadly Quinn _also_ was feeling affectionate, so he grabbed Bert as he was falling and now they were on top of him.

Bert sat up so they were straddling Quinn, their hands resting on his chest, and grinned down at him, saying, “You motherfuck! I can't believe you waited so long to tell me you've moving back here! What the fuck even happened? I thought your parents liked where you were at.”

“Well they did like it, just the company my dad works for I guess decided to relocate him back here again. He didn't really say why, but I think the company closed that branch? I dunno just one day he came home and said we were moving back to Utah,” Quinn replied, finally letting himself grin back up at Bert. It seemed that it finally was hitting him that he'd be living near Bert again, that they would be _close_ again.

Fuck, Bert had missed Quinn so much. They had barely even thought about Gee all day.

As if she could read their mind, Gee suddenly burst into Bert’s room and yelled, “Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday!”

This would've been fine, except Bert was still straddling Quinn and now that Gee realized Bert wasn't alone, she looked pissed and slightly hurt. They quickly scrambled off of Quinn and went to her, saying, “Babe! This is my old friend Quinn! He's moving back here!”

“What were you just doing?” She asked, her arms crossed as she looked Quinn up and down.

“Uh, Bert threw me off the bed and I pulled them off with me as pay back,” Quinn replied with a laugh.

“That's not what it looked like.”

Quinn shrugged, “I don't care that it looked sexual, it seriously wasn't. Look, Gee, right?” After waiting for her to nod, he continued, “I’m not into Bert that way, and they aren't into me that way. They're a lesbian, and I'm a guy, there's seriously nothing for you to be worried about. Bert’s just an over excited puppy, a small yet surprisingly strong puppy. I told them I was moving back here and they threw me off the bed, end of story.”

Gee chewed her lip for a bit, then shrugged and replied, “Okay, I believe you. I don't have any reason to not trust you or Bert, and that does seem like something they’d do so... yeah. Sorry for briefly getting snippy.”

“It's cool, I kinda understand why,” Quinn laughed.

“Are you two best friends now?” Bert said, grinning and looking between them both excitedly.

“Maybe not best friends, since that position is taken by you, but I think we can at least be friends, right?” Quinn replied, smiling at Gee.

Gee laughed and sat on Bert’s bed, “Yeah, I think we can be friends. Don't see why not.”

“Fuck yeah!” Bert said, fist bumping Quinn and still grinning, “I love you both so much.”

\----------

Gee, after she had learned it was Bert’s birthday, had put together a dinner date for the two of them. This would have been lovely, except now Bert couldn't stop thinking about how much they had missed Quinn, and how he was moving back, so they were distracted most of the time.

After a while, Gee seemed to notice that Bert wasn't focused on the current situation, so she asked, “Are you sure there's nothing going on between you and Quinn? You seem so distracted...”

“What? Oh, babe, of course there's nothing going on between. I just hadn't seen him in so long, y’know? My mind hasn't fully wrapped around the fact that he's back, but I'm sorry I'm so distracted,” Bert replied, feeling guilty now. They reaches out and held Gee’s hand, adding, “I promise you're the only one for me. You don't have to worry about Quinn, he's just a friend.”

Gee smiled and squeezed Bert's hand, saying, “Okay, I trust you. I just- yeah, I’m just paranoid, sorry.”

“It’s alright, I understand,” Bert said, smiling back.

“I'm sure it will be fine when I get to know him,” Gee said, “Although, why didn't you tell me about him before? I didn't even know he existed until today.”

Bert sighed, “I- I don't know. I kinda didn't like talking about him to anyone ‘cause it just reminded me he wasn't here anymore, I guess. Like, even when my parents asked me about him I'd avoid answering because I hated the fact that he wasn't near me anymore.”

“Did you ever talk to him after he left?”

“Yeah, I definitely did, it just wasn't the same,” Bert shrugged, “I still should've told you about him. I think just after a while I got used to not talking about him to people, like he was just... I dunno, like no one else could know him because I wanted to keep him to myself? It's stupid, I know.”

“That's not that stupid,” Gee replied, “I mean, I sorta get it I think. Like, you just wanted to keep all the memories or whatever to yourself?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

Gee smiled and leaned over, kissing them on the cheek then saying, “Well, I would love to make new memories including him. I'm sure he's a great dude and I can't wait to get to know him.”

“I can't wait for you to get to know him too,” Bert replied, smiling back at Gee.

\----------

A few days had passed and Bert had spent most of his time helping Quinn unpack. It still felt unreal, like Bert would wake up and Quinn would be gone again. That never happened, though, and now the weekend was over and they were seeing him at school too. God, this still felt a like a dream.

Bert knew it'd take time to get ised to the fact that Quinn was back, but they were just glad that the bond they had with him hadn't gone away. It was like he never had left, they hadn't lost any of the connection that comes with seeing someone in person. Bert couldn't believe how lucky he was.

Quinn also was fitting in nicely with Gee’s friends, which was definitely good. Bert didn't think he would be an outcast in the new group or anything, but they still were happy that he had clicked so well with Gee’s friends.

Everything was going so well in Bert’s life, they couldn't believe it. Finally things were turning out fantastically for them, and they begged god not to take this happiness away from them.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes i made Quinn a trans guy you cant stop me... 
> 
> also as per usual feel free to hmu on tumblr (@bisexualbertmccracken), twitter (@Allegrcat), instagram (@artsy_vampire), and/or snapchat (artsy_vampire)!!
> 
> have a nice day!!!!!


End file.
